Fanfic: Stepping Out
Finished! First chapter. Pre-movie. Teenage Megamind. I could prattle on about the endless revisions, the sleepless nights, the agonizing, the hand-wringing....but I won't. Enjoy!
Title: Stepping Out
Author: ladyspock
Word Count: 2500 (appx)
Summary: Fifteen year old Megamind has had it with prison life and decides to strike out on his own. With Minion, of course.
Rating: PG for violence
Warnings: Beating, cruelty to an ichthyoid.
Chapter One Summary: A certain incident involving a license plate is the last straw.
Disclaimer: Megamind and related characters are property of DreamWorks.
Megamind frowned at the hydraulic press. As the familiar murmur of men and machines swirled around him in the license plate room, the fifteen year old inmate was glad that it wasn't possible to actually die of boredom. Lenny and Sid passed by. Sid was in full complaint mode.
"Charlie never puts the mop heads in the wash," Sid said.
"Give him a break. He's got asthma," Lenny said.
"Oh, he just says that to get out of work. I'm always cleaning up after him. I got a bum knee and nobody cares about that," Sid griped. They walked on.
Megamind sighed. He'd heard the same conversations a million times and made about a billion license plates.
His mind wandered to the National Geographic article about jet packs, which was far more interesting. The article was short on technical details but he'd read it so often he had it memorized. '...propulsion system strong enough to lift a grown man the size of Michael Jackson into the air as a cool exit from a concert stage...the stuff of science fiction made real...' Idly he twirled a license plate in his hands.
He jumped when someone struck the press with a wrench. The resounding clang was like a slap to the ears. He glared at Justin Henkler, fellow prisoner and bane of his existence. Justin was like an older brother. In some ways exactly like an older brother. Justin grinned, baring his crooked teeth. His mousy brown hair frizzed all over his head like a supernova. There were a couple of residual pimples hanging on for dear life on his chin.
"Gotta wake you up somehow," he said. "You're daydreaming all day. Want me to knock your fat head next time? I can't miss." He sniggered.
"How about you go away and come back when you learn a new joke? Should only take you ten or twelve years," Megamind said, sneering. Justin gave him a hard look. Megamind glared back and clenched his fists, in case Justin tried to give him a noogie again. Whatever that was. Apparently it involved yelling the word in an annoying voice and putting the victim in a headlock. Last month Megamind had to punch and elbow Justin to get him to back off. He did not have any desire to find out what a noogie was. It sounded very unpleasant.
"I hear you're taking the GED next week," Megamind said. He made his voice slow and precise, for the hard of thinking. "Let me give you some hints. One plus one is two, two plus two is---"
Sarcasm was not in Justin's vocabulary, but he knew it when he heard it. He leaned forward a little to deliver a rebuttal, but stopped as he sensed the heavy tread of the guard. George Bronski eclipsed the lights as he paused to give them his full attention. Justin scurried back to his station and Megamind immediately turned back to his press. Bronski was a new guard, an ex-boxer, and, like many new recruits, was altogether too eager to enforce rules.
After a tense moment, Bronski appeared to be satisfied that his presence had gotten results. He lumbered on to intimidate the rest of the room.
Megamind paused to look around for Minion. Minion, from his own station next to Harry the embezzler, had noticed the exchange with Justin and was anxiously peering at him. Harry, too, was looking at him with a worried expression in his watery eyes. Minion's linebacker-sized robotic suit was the largest model yet and Megamind was proud of his work. For being constructed from bits and pieces salvaged from the mechanic's bay and the prison dump, it was quite effective. It protected Minion, gave him freedom of movement, and incidentally protected Megamind too. More than a few fights had been averted by the looming, scowling presence of Minion. There were times when one of Megamind's innocent remarks rubbed some inmate the wrong way. But it was amazing how quickly the offended party backed off when Minion towered over them.
Megamind gave them a little nod and a grin. No problem here. He could handle Justin. Minion smiled and nodded back. Megamind turned back to the press. He maintained enough presence of mind not to get his fingers caught in it but his mind was elsewhere.
'...the amount of thrust required to lift any sort of substantial weight is comparable'...well, part of the problem is the power source. They could get better results if they would just---
He was shoved hard from behind. He fell against the press, banging his shoulder.
"Ow!" he shouted. Furious, he whirled around and glared at the smirking Justin.
Two aisles down, Bronski lifted his head and changed course. He began to scull his way back towards the commotion.
Justin sneered at Megamind. "Poor baby. You gonna sic your pet fish on me?" Snorting, he began to turn away.
Megamind snatched up a license plate and whipped it at him. Justin dodged. The plate whirred through the air like a homicidal pheasant and struck the approaching guard smartly across the forehead. Bronski's head snapped back. He staggered back a step, then straightened up, rocking a little.
Megamind froze. Justin's eyes bulged. Minion gasped and the entire room held its breath.
Well, isn't this an interesting development, Megamind thought, swallowing through a throat gone dry. Never hit a guard before. Needled, yes. Heckled, sure. But struck? That was taking it a bit far. It had been an accident, but ol' George didn't look very amenable to an apology.
Generally he considered the guards to be one of those inevitable hardships, sort of like the weather. You could complain about the rain all you liked but you weren't supposed to attack it.
Justin carefully sidled away, leaving a clear path. Bronski slowly raised a disbelieving hand to the cut on his forehead. He looked at the red smear on his fingertips.
Megamind watched in horrified fascination as the shock in the man's face turned to fury. He was aware that Minion was working his way over but Megamind didn't dare take his eyes off Bronski. A small, crazed grin hitched up half of Megamind's mouth.
When Bronski lunged at him, he bolted and dove under a table. Bronski grabbed his ankle, Minion tackled Bronski, and the room erupted. Justin and a couple of other troublemakers began flinging tools around. The older prisoners shouted at them and backed up out of the chaos.
"You stupid punks!"
"You're gonna get us all in trouble!"
"I'm not cleaning that up!"
The guard by the door shouted out into the hallway. "Backup! Help! We need backup! Now!"
The force of Minion's tackle caused Bronski to lose his grip and Megamind hopped up on the other side of the table. "Good job, Minion!" he shouted, making the most of it. Guards were pushing their way in to re-establish control. It would have, perhaps, been more prudent to surrender, but Megamind's blood was up, and something in him was not about to go quietly. He considered fleeing out into the hallway, but there was a crush of people by the door, struggling and shouting.
Two guards were advancing. He fled, flinging boxes and tools in his wake to slow up the pursuit.
"Run, Meg, run!" Justin crowed.
I'll get you, Megamind seethed. You sorry son of a--
They were tasering Minion. George Bronski jerked himself free as the heavy metallic body slumped over. The bowl of Minion's dome opened. It might've been the electrical charge interfering with the suit's features that caused it to malfunction. Or Minion himself opened it, in his state of shock and disorientation. The result was the same. Minion spilled out onto the floor. The guards backed away from the flood of water. Then one of them kicked Minion into a table leg.
"No!" Megamind shouted. Heedless of the orders to halt, he hurtled over and around obstacles. The small body came into view as he rounded the last corner and then Bronski stepped into his path and punched him between the eyes.
He landed painfully against one of the presses. When his vision cleared he caught a merciful glimpse of Harry, who darted in among the milling feet and snatched Minion off the floor. Then Bronski blocked his line of sight and knocked him out.
--------------------------------------
Minion floated, sore and angry, in the aquarium in the assistant's office. There weren't any fish in it. Just him. He'd been banished to the tank before, on other occasions when they'd been punishing his master. He wondered how long he'd be stuck in here this time. Nobody would tell him. A lot of people wouldn't talk to him at all when he wasn't encased in his robotic suit. They ignored him like he was just some fish. The robot suit, which gave him a roughly humanoid form, suggested more strongly to others that he was, in fact, a sentient being capable of rational thought. That and the fact that he could crush skulls with his metallic hands also helped gain a little respect. Not that he'd ever actually do any crushing, actually. But he certainly seemed capable of it; it preyed on people's minds. It encouraged them to talk to him with at least a littlr of civility.
His sides ached where the point of the guard's boot had struck him, and from his collision with the table leg. He was grateful for Harry's brave action. Interfering in the guard business of subduing unruly prisoners was dangerous, even if it was an act of mercy. Harry was lucky he hadn't been subdued himself.
Harry saved Minion from getting stomped, and brought him over to a sink full of water. A sympathetic guard later allowed Harry to take Minion to the aquarium. The robotic suit was, he thought, shoved away into a closet somewhere.
Andrew Johnson, the warden's assistant, typed busily away on a computer. The gentle bubbling of the aquarium was the only other sound in the room, other than the sound of irate voices which came from behind the warden's closed door. They were too muffled for Minion to make out what they were saying.
Andrew tapped fussily at a small stack of files, looked at the door, and sighed. Finally he pressed his lips together in a thin line and went to open the door.
The voices grew louder.
"---let a thing like that slide, warden! He attacked a guard!"
"It wasn't intentional! Bronski wasn't even the target."
"Any prisoner who strikes a guard gets solitary!" the first voice insisted. "If we don't enforce the rules---"
"There are rules governing humane treatment. Like not beating prisoners unconscious---what is it Andrew!"
"I'm sorry, sir, these really need your approval before I can transfer them."
"All right, let me see them."
Minion leaned against the wall of the aquarium to hear better. There was the ruffle of pages turning, the creak of chairs as bodies shifted in their seats. Someone sighed heavily. There was the sound of a pen scribbling across paper.
"Thank you Mr. Parker," Andrew said. He came out of the warden's office and, to Minion's disappointment, closed the door again. The voices that drifted out were much quieter.
Several minutes later, the chief security officer came out of the warden's office.
"I'll see to it, John," he said over his shoulder. As he passed Andrew's desk, he glared at Minion, then strode over to the tank. Minion fluttered nervously into a corner.
"You want to see your little prince again, you better behave yourself," he said in a low voice.
Minion blinked at him in silence. What's he think I'm gonna do, stuck in here? Minion thought. Splash water on the carpet?
With a final glower, the man left.
John Parker came out of his office. "Would you mind making some coffee for us?"
"Sure thing, warden," said Andrew.
While Andrew went to the cupboard, Parker pulled a chair over to the aquarium and sat down. He rested an elbow on one of the chair arms and rested his chin on his knuckles. He stared at Minion for so long that the ichthyoid began to get uncomfortable.
"You're supposed to keep him out of trouble, Minion," he said quietly. "That's the deal. I've just about had to beg one of my best men not to turn in his resignation. I am not happy. It seems the guards feel that Blue gets special treatment, and they are resentful."
"You should use his proper name," Minion muttered.
The warden's face darkened and he let his arm fall. "Why? You don't. It's all 'Sir this' and 'Sir that.' Why don't you ever say his 'proper' name?"
Minion sniffed. "Wouldn't be proper," he said primly.
Parker muttered something unintelligible and slumped back into the chair. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's going into solitary for a week---and even that's going easy on him, it should be two---after he's released from infirmary."
"I want to see him," said Minion.
Parker shook his head. "In case you haven't noticed, Minion, this is your solitary confinement." He narrowed his eyes. "That's the point. No social contact."
"So what does that bully get, a raise?"
"George Bronski will be suspended for a week. The man had to have three stitches, if that interests you at all. When he comes back he will be transferred to the night shift. Bailey, the one who kicked you, is getting a week's suspension too."
Minion swam about until he was facing the wall. He was actually a little surprised that the kick-happy guard was getting disciplined as well. It was hard to get a good sulk going when the warden was being so darn fair-minded and everything, but he managed.
The warden pressed his lips together. He had the impression he was being given the silent treatment. He'd seen the boy as he was taken to the infirmary. He did not like the look of those bruises. He wanted fire Bronski outright, but there were rules and procedures to be followed. Bronski had not been suspended before, and there would have to be an investigation.
"I'll keep you informed on his condition." The warden stood up with a scrape of the chair.
The phone rang and Andrew answered it. Parker stared at the wall. Finally he said "Maybe, in a couple more years, maybe we can look at some kind of work release program." He stopped and chewed thoughtfully on his lip.
Excuse me if I don't hold my breath, warden, Minion thought. I'm not going to watch my master grow old in this place.
Out in the hall, someone shouted in the distance. They seemed to be getting closer, judging by the rising intensity. They all looked around at the door. If Minion had external ears he would have pricked them up.
"Minion!" the voice called. "Miiiiiiin-yuuuuuuuuun!"
A grin spread over Minion's face. He swam excitedly around the tank, nearly slopping water over the sides. "It's him. It's him!" he squeaked.
Title: Stepping Out
Author: ladyspock
Word Count: 2500 (appx)
Summary: Fifteen year old Megamind has had it with prison life and decides to strike out on his own. With Minion, of course.
Rating: PG for violence
Warnings: Beating, cruelty to an ichthyoid.
Chapter One Summary: A certain incident involving a license plate is the last straw.
Disclaimer: Megamind and related characters are property of DreamWorks.
Megamind frowned at the hydraulic press. As the familiar murmur of men and machines swirled around him in the license plate room, the fifteen year old inmate was glad that it wasn't possible to actually die of boredom. Lenny and Sid passed by. Sid was in full complaint mode.
"Charlie never puts the mop heads in the wash," Sid said.
"Give him a break. He's got asthma," Lenny said.
"Oh, he just says that to get out of work. I'm always cleaning up after him. I got a bum knee and nobody cares about that," Sid griped. They walked on.
Megamind sighed. He'd heard the same conversations a million times and made about a billion license plates.
His mind wandered to the National Geographic article about jet packs, which was far more interesting. The article was short on technical details but he'd read it so often he had it memorized. '...propulsion system strong enough to lift a grown man the size of Michael Jackson into the air as a cool exit from a concert stage...the stuff of science fiction made real...' Idly he twirled a license plate in his hands.
He jumped when someone struck the press with a wrench. The resounding clang was like a slap to the ears. He glared at Justin Henkler, fellow prisoner and bane of his existence. Justin was like an older brother. In some ways exactly like an older brother. Justin grinned, baring his crooked teeth. His mousy brown hair frizzed all over his head like a supernova. There were a couple of residual pimples hanging on for dear life on his chin.
"Gotta wake you up somehow," he said. "You're daydreaming all day. Want me to knock your fat head next time? I can't miss." He sniggered.
"How about you go away and come back when you learn a new joke? Should only take you ten or twelve years," Megamind said, sneering. Justin gave him a hard look. Megamind glared back and clenched his fists, in case Justin tried to give him a noogie again. Whatever that was. Apparently it involved yelling the word in an annoying voice and putting the victim in a headlock. Last month Megamind had to punch and elbow Justin to get him to back off. He did not have any desire to find out what a noogie was. It sounded very unpleasant.
"I hear you're taking the GED next week," Megamind said. He made his voice slow and precise, for the hard of thinking. "Let me give you some hints. One plus one is two, two plus two is---"
Sarcasm was not in Justin's vocabulary, but he knew it when he heard it. He leaned forward a little to deliver a rebuttal, but stopped as he sensed the heavy tread of the guard. George Bronski eclipsed the lights as he paused to give them his full attention. Justin scurried back to his station and Megamind immediately turned back to his press. Bronski was a new guard, an ex-boxer, and, like many new recruits, was altogether too eager to enforce rules.
After a tense moment, Bronski appeared to be satisfied that his presence had gotten results. He lumbered on to intimidate the rest of the room.
Megamind paused to look around for Minion. Minion, from his own station next to Harry the embezzler, had noticed the exchange with Justin and was anxiously peering at him. Harry, too, was looking at him with a worried expression in his watery eyes. Minion's linebacker-sized robotic suit was the largest model yet and Megamind was proud of his work. For being constructed from bits and pieces salvaged from the mechanic's bay and the prison dump, it was quite effective. It protected Minion, gave him freedom of movement, and incidentally protected Megamind too. More than a few fights had been averted by the looming, scowling presence of Minion. There were times when one of Megamind's innocent remarks rubbed some inmate the wrong way. But it was amazing how quickly the offended party backed off when Minion towered over them.
Megamind gave them a little nod and a grin. No problem here. He could handle Justin. Minion smiled and nodded back. Megamind turned back to the press. He maintained enough presence of mind not to get his fingers caught in it but his mind was elsewhere.
'...the amount of thrust required to lift any sort of substantial weight is comparable'...well, part of the problem is the power source. They could get better results if they would just---
He was shoved hard from behind. He fell against the press, banging his shoulder.
"Ow!" he shouted. Furious, he whirled around and glared at the smirking Justin.
Two aisles down, Bronski lifted his head and changed course. He began to scull his way back towards the commotion.
Justin sneered at Megamind. "Poor baby. You gonna sic your pet fish on me?" Snorting, he began to turn away.
Megamind snatched up a license plate and whipped it at him. Justin dodged. The plate whirred through the air like a homicidal pheasant and struck the approaching guard smartly across the forehead. Bronski's head snapped back. He staggered back a step, then straightened up, rocking a little.
Megamind froze. Justin's eyes bulged. Minion gasped and the entire room held its breath.
Well, isn't this an interesting development, Megamind thought, swallowing through a throat gone dry. Never hit a guard before. Needled, yes. Heckled, sure. But struck? That was taking it a bit far. It had been an accident, but ol' George didn't look very amenable to an apology.
Generally he considered the guards to be one of those inevitable hardships, sort of like the weather. You could complain about the rain all you liked but you weren't supposed to attack it.
Justin carefully sidled away, leaving a clear path. Bronski slowly raised a disbelieving hand to the cut on his forehead. He looked at the red smear on his fingertips.
Megamind watched in horrified fascination as the shock in the man's face turned to fury. He was aware that Minion was working his way over but Megamind didn't dare take his eyes off Bronski. A small, crazed grin hitched up half of Megamind's mouth.
When Bronski lunged at him, he bolted and dove under a table. Bronski grabbed his ankle, Minion tackled Bronski, and the room erupted. Justin and a couple of other troublemakers began flinging tools around. The older prisoners shouted at them and backed up out of the chaos.
"You stupid punks!"
"You're gonna get us all in trouble!"
"I'm not cleaning that up!"
The guard by the door shouted out into the hallway. "Backup! Help! We need backup! Now!"
The force of Minion's tackle caused Bronski to lose his grip and Megamind hopped up on the other side of the table. "Good job, Minion!" he shouted, making the most of it. Guards were pushing their way in to re-establish control. It would have, perhaps, been more prudent to surrender, but Megamind's blood was up, and something in him was not about to go quietly. He considered fleeing out into the hallway, but there was a crush of people by the door, struggling and shouting.
Two guards were advancing. He fled, flinging boxes and tools in his wake to slow up the pursuit.
"Run, Meg, run!" Justin crowed.
I'll get you, Megamind seethed. You sorry son of a--
They were tasering Minion. George Bronski jerked himself free as the heavy metallic body slumped over. The bowl of Minion's dome opened. It might've been the electrical charge interfering with the suit's features that caused it to malfunction. Or Minion himself opened it, in his state of shock and disorientation. The result was the same. Minion spilled out onto the floor. The guards backed away from the flood of water. Then one of them kicked Minion into a table leg.
"No!" Megamind shouted. Heedless of the orders to halt, he hurtled over and around obstacles. The small body came into view as he rounded the last corner and then Bronski stepped into his path and punched him between the eyes.
He landed painfully against one of the presses. When his vision cleared he caught a merciful glimpse of Harry, who darted in among the milling feet and snatched Minion off the floor. Then Bronski blocked his line of sight and knocked him out.
--------------------------------------
Minion floated, sore and angry, in the aquarium in the assistant's office. There weren't any fish in it. Just him. He'd been banished to the tank before, on other occasions when they'd been punishing his master. He wondered how long he'd be stuck in here this time. Nobody would tell him. A lot of people wouldn't talk to him at all when he wasn't encased in his robotic suit. They ignored him like he was just some fish. The robot suit, which gave him a roughly humanoid form, suggested more strongly to others that he was, in fact, a sentient being capable of rational thought. That and the fact that he could crush skulls with his metallic hands also helped gain a little respect. Not that he'd ever actually do any crushing, actually. But he certainly seemed capable of it; it preyed on people's minds. It encouraged them to talk to him with at least a littlr of civility.
His sides ached where the point of the guard's boot had struck him, and from his collision with the table leg. He was grateful for Harry's brave action. Interfering in the guard business of subduing unruly prisoners was dangerous, even if it was an act of mercy. Harry was lucky he hadn't been subdued himself.
Harry saved Minion from getting stomped, and brought him over to a sink full of water. A sympathetic guard later allowed Harry to take Minion to the aquarium. The robotic suit was, he thought, shoved away into a closet somewhere.
Andrew Johnson, the warden's assistant, typed busily away on a computer. The gentle bubbling of the aquarium was the only other sound in the room, other than the sound of irate voices which came from behind the warden's closed door. They were too muffled for Minion to make out what they were saying.
Andrew tapped fussily at a small stack of files, looked at the door, and sighed. Finally he pressed his lips together in a thin line and went to open the door.
The voices grew louder.
"---let a thing like that slide, warden! He attacked a guard!"
"It wasn't intentional! Bronski wasn't even the target."
"Any prisoner who strikes a guard gets solitary!" the first voice insisted. "If we don't enforce the rules---"
"There are rules governing humane treatment. Like not beating prisoners unconscious---what is it Andrew!"
"I'm sorry, sir, these really need your approval before I can transfer them."
"All right, let me see them."
Minion leaned against the wall of the aquarium to hear better. There was the ruffle of pages turning, the creak of chairs as bodies shifted in their seats. Someone sighed heavily. There was the sound of a pen scribbling across paper.
"Thank you Mr. Parker," Andrew said. He came out of the warden's office and, to Minion's disappointment, closed the door again. The voices that drifted out were much quieter.
Several minutes later, the chief security officer came out of the warden's office.
"I'll see to it, John," he said over his shoulder. As he passed Andrew's desk, he glared at Minion, then strode over to the tank. Minion fluttered nervously into a corner.
"You want to see your little prince again, you better behave yourself," he said in a low voice.
Minion blinked at him in silence. What's he think I'm gonna do, stuck in here? Minion thought. Splash water on the carpet?
With a final glower, the man left.
John Parker came out of his office. "Would you mind making some coffee for us?"
"Sure thing, warden," said Andrew.
While Andrew went to the cupboard, Parker pulled a chair over to the aquarium and sat down. He rested an elbow on one of the chair arms and rested his chin on his knuckles. He stared at Minion for so long that the ichthyoid began to get uncomfortable.
"You're supposed to keep him out of trouble, Minion," he said quietly. "That's the deal. I've just about had to beg one of my best men not to turn in his resignation. I am not happy. It seems the guards feel that Blue gets special treatment, and they are resentful."
"You should use his proper name," Minion muttered.
The warden's face darkened and he let his arm fall. "Why? You don't. It's all 'Sir this' and 'Sir that.' Why don't you ever say his 'proper' name?"
Minion sniffed. "Wouldn't be proper," he said primly.
Parker muttered something unintelligible and slumped back into the chair. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's going into solitary for a week---and even that's going easy on him, it should be two---after he's released from infirmary."
"I want to see him," said Minion.
Parker shook his head. "In case you haven't noticed, Minion, this is your solitary confinement." He narrowed his eyes. "That's the point. No social contact."
"So what does that bully get, a raise?"
"George Bronski will be suspended for a week. The man had to have three stitches, if that interests you at all. When he comes back he will be transferred to the night shift. Bailey, the one who kicked you, is getting a week's suspension too."
Minion swam about until he was facing the wall. He was actually a little surprised that the kick-happy guard was getting disciplined as well. It was hard to get a good sulk going when the warden was being so darn fair-minded and everything, but he managed.
The warden pressed his lips together. He had the impression he was being given the silent treatment. He'd seen the boy as he was taken to the infirmary. He did not like the look of those bruises. He wanted fire Bronski outright, but there were rules and procedures to be followed. Bronski had not been suspended before, and there would have to be an investigation.
"I'll keep you informed on his condition." The warden stood up with a scrape of the chair.
The phone rang and Andrew answered it. Parker stared at the wall. Finally he said "Maybe, in a couple more years, maybe we can look at some kind of work release program." He stopped and chewed thoughtfully on his lip.
Excuse me if I don't hold my breath, warden, Minion thought. I'm not going to watch my master grow old in this place.
Out in the hall, someone shouted in the distance. They seemed to be getting closer, judging by the rising intensity. They all looked around at the door. If Minion had external ears he would have pricked them up.
"Minion!" the voice called. "Miiiiiiin-yuuuuuuuuun!"
A grin spread over Minion's face. He swam excitedly around the tank, nearly slopping water over the sides. "It's him. It's him!" he squeaked.